Chapter Ten: Why?
"Why did you do it Miguel?" Luis asked as he placed his brother into the cruiser.
"I had to get back at her. She wasn't going to let me see my daughter," he said, as if that justified his actions.
"Yeah, well it was incredibly stupid and now you'll probably go to jail. Now you definitely won't see her ever again," Luis told him. Sam walked over and got into the driver's seat of the cruiser.
"I was just talking to Officer Mayetta. He said that Maria hasn't been found yet," Sam told Luis.
"I hope she's okay," Miguel whispered from the back. Sam turned around and glared at him.
"This is all your fault you little asshole. If anything happens to my granddaughter, I'll personally see to it that you pay." He turned back around and started to car, turning it around and heading back to Harmony. They probably wouldn't get there until sometime the next day. Luis and Sam switched places driving when one of them got tired.
"What's that over there?" a rescue worker yelled. A spotlight shone on the area he was pointing to.
"It's the girl!" someone else yelled. Five people jumped into the water and carefully lifted Maria out. She was still unconscious, and extremely cold. She was loaded onto a stretcher and the ambulance drove out to the dirt road, where a helicopter was landing. She was airlifted to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
The phone rang and Kay instantly grabbed it.
"Hello?" she asked anxiously.
"Kay, it's me. Miguel is in custody now. He was found in the woods in New York. His car was there, but…" Jack trailed off.
"But what?" Kay asked. "Where's Maria?"
"They don't know," Jack sighed. Kay burst into tears and almost dropped the phone. When her hand became steady enough, she lifted it back to her ear. "I'm coming home now to wait with you. Sam and Luis are gone right now getting Miguel."
"Okay," Kay managed to say. "I'll be waiting." About fifteen minutes later, Jack burst into the house. Kay ran to him and threw her arms around him. They hugged for almost five minutes, simply holding each other. As soon as they sat down on the couch, the phone rang. Both Jack and Kay reached for it, but Kay got it first.
"Hello?"
"Is this Mr. or Mrs. Bennet?" a woman asked.
"Yes. This is Mrs. Bennet. Who is this?"
"My name is Officer Perez. We found Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald about three hours ago…"
"Have you found my baby yet? Please tell me you found her!" Kay yelled into the phone.
"We did find her…" Kay interrupted the woman again.
"Is she okay? I'll just die if she isn't!"
"She was found in the river and has been airlifted to Mount Sinai Hospital. I can't tell you anything more; that's all I know for now," Officer Perez explained.
"Thank you so much." Kay hung the phone up. "We have to go to New York," she told Jack.
"Where is she?" he asked, tears filling his eyes.
"Mount Sinai Hospital. They…they found her in the river. I hope it's not too late."
"It can't be, it just can't." Kay and Jack quickly left the house and drove to the train station. They took the train to New York City, and the ride lasted a half hour. They burst into the hospital and ran to the emergency room.
"We're looking for Maria Bennet," Kay blurted out to the receptionist.
"And you are…?" the woman asked.
"Her parents!" Jack yelled. He flipped open his wallet and showed the woman his ID and badge.
"Room 212, second floor." Jack and Kay ran to the elevator and when it didn't come fast enough, decided to take the stairs. They found Maria's room and went inside.